I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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I've never found any IWB holster particularly comfortable or easy to access or interesting but still every year or three I decide to give IWB holsters another try. This time I've been able to go a whole week wearing my Don Hume IWB that was originally for my Sig P230 but this week was used with my Ex-Austrian Police Walther PP. While it certainly has not be as comfortable as any of my OWB holsters it has been bearable if not pleasant.

I have a Box of Shame that's filled with IWB holster and so I'll continue to give then their biannual chance to go Walkabout but ONLY as long as they play nicely. The first time they cause me grief it will be back into the Box of Shame.

Maybe next up will be one of my High Noon Mr. Softy's or one from Lou Alessi.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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Test two is one of my High Noon Holsters Mr. Softey with one of my JP Sauer 38hs. Like the Don Hume it is a clip over but the High Noon uses the "J" hook type the make it somewhat harder to put on or take off. The "J" hook type clips do make the holster more secure. Also like the Hume it has the re-enforced mouth.

The big difference is that the Hume uses finished side out leather while the High Noon uses rough side out.

The Hume:

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and the High Noon:
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So the test begins.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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I feel like a week was the hump for me to get over before I began to not notice carrying IWB, and now I feel like it is to the point that I feel like I’m missing something when I’m not carrying. My wardrobe would not allow for me to carry OWB, so I reserve those for hunting, camping, range days, etc. EDC is IWB for me.

I will say those holsters are much simpler than mine, I carry an Alien Gear Shapeshift. Somewhat complicated but very versatile, and the only part of it I don’t like is the AIWB part, but I don’t appendix carry so I don’t mind.

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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keenanmj85 wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:26 am I feel like a week was the hump for me to get over before I began to not notice carrying IWB, and now I feel like it is to the point that I feel like I’m missing something when I’m not carrying. My wardrobe would not allow for me to carry OWB, so I reserve those for hunting, camping, range days, etc. EDC is IWB for me.

I will say those holsters are much simpler than mine, I carry an Alien Gear Shapeshift. Somewhat complicated but very versatile, and the only part of it I don’t like is the AIWB part, but I don’t appendix carry so I don’t mind.
I have an Alien Gear and find it is absolutely unusable. In fact I actually have two different shells with it. It lives permanently in the Box of Shame.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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I did at first, but I have come to very much prefer the hybrid style for IWB. Being able to adjust the cant for minimum printing, as well as having two contact points on the belt to distribute the weight has made me prefer it over single clip kydex or leather. Just personal preference though.

I will say the OWB sticks out pretty far, and the AIWB is definitely unusable due to its printing, but again since I would never EDC OWB or AIWB I don’t mind it. The ability to move between IWB, OWB for when I use it, drop leg, paddle, etc is pretty handy

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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Yeah, I found Alien gear to be hot garbage as well. The gaps & stiffness of the injection molded plastic made it uncomfortable. A crude copy of the old crossbreeds - which were excellent. I had a cross breed for a Glock 27 and it was a great, comfortable carry - but alas, I divested of 40S&W., quite some time ago.

I used to be a mostly IWB guy. Now, I generally only carry IWB before I get dressed with a Remora Mini. Perfect set up for gym shorts, and a very, light pistol. (Airweight S&W .38 SPL for me) This "no-belt & remora" will carry up to about 24 oz for a time (S&W Shield) - Once I get up and put a belt on I'm OWB all the way. I don't really care if the bottom of my holster pokes out of my shirttail.

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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I'll likely give the Alien Gear another chance at WalkAbout but there are still so many that haven't been out in years it will have to wait it's turn. In dual support cant adjustable I have an old Tucker Gun Leather that I believe was the first such example on the market. Pretty revolutionary at the time.

It's probably been a couple decades since I last wore the Tucker and IIRC the biggest issue was that the mouth was not reinforced and so holstering was difficult.
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Last edited by sig230 on Fri Mar 05, 2021 10:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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INVICTVS138 wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:46 am Yeah, I found Alien gear to be hot garbage as well. The gaps & stiffness of the injection molded plastic made it uncomfortable. A crude copy of the old crossbreeds - which were excellent. I had a cross breed for a Glock 27 and it was a great, comfortable carry - but alas, I divested of 40S&W., quite some time ago.

I used to be a mostly IWB guy. Now, I generally only carry IWB before I get dressed with a Remora Mini. Perfect set up for gym shorts, and a very, light pistol. (Airweight S&W .38 SPL for me) This "no-belt & remora" will carry up to about 24 oz for a time (S&W Shield) - Once I get up and put a belt on I'm OWB all the way. I don't really care if the bottom of my holster pokes out of my shirttail.
Fortunately open carry is legal here and so I simply fuggitabutit. Over the decades my experience has shown that in general the population is simply blind as a bat. They are just totally unaware of anything around them. I've never had a non shooter even comment when open carrying and those that do comment generally lead to a coffee and a few tales.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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sig230 wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:50 am I'll likely give the Alien Gear another chance at WalkAbout but there are still so many that haven't been out in years it will have to weight it's turn. In dual support cant adjustable I have an old Tucker Gun Leather that I believe was the first such example on the market. Pretty revolutionary at the time.

It's probably been a couple decades since I last wore the Tucker and IIRC the biggest issue was that the mouth was not reinforced and so holstering was difficult.
Image
Now that I would definitely give a go for IWB. Beautiful holster.

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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I have an Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.5 holster for my CZ P10S. I haven't ponied up for their Shape Shifter series--from reading comments here I guess I'm just as well off. It looks complicated, and I like simplicity. That said, the holster I have is surprisingly comfortable--for me, carrying at the 4-4:30 position.

I have some AIWB holsters from Muddy River Tactical (MRT)--one to fit the P10S, another to fit the Sig Sauer P365XL, and perhaps one to fit the M&P M2.0 Compact. They are okay for AIWB, I suppose. They can work for 4:30 position, if adjusted for some cant.

For an assortment of reasons, leather is not as common in our household as in others. Nothing against others using leather products, mind you, and I certainly recognize the artistry in some of the leather stuff I've seen.

In the reading I did before buying the aforementioned holsters, there was some discussion of leather either flexing to make reholstering problematic, or being thick enough to make the holster too bulky. That influenced me toward the hard shell Muddy River stuff (before I knew about some other brands that are probably more left-leaning politically) and toward the Alien Gear Cloak Tuck hybrid with its thin steel plate in the back side.

My wife and I are in the habit of carrying a spare magazine each, for some reason. With the EDC guns having 12+1 capacity, I'm rethinking whether I really need a spare mag, but it's there. I have MRT holsters for each of our carry guns, but they don't stay put as well as we'd like. I bought a couple of the Alien Gear Cloak series magazine holsters, which are neat in how many ways they can be worn, but I'm not sure they work any better for us.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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BearPaws wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 10:11 am I have an Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.5 holster for my CZ P10S. I haven't ponied up for their Shape Shifter series--from reading comments here I guess I'm just as well off. It looks complicated, and I like simplicity. That said, the holster I have is surprisingly comfortable--for me, carrying at the 4-4:30 position.
In hindsight, I probably could have just purchased the Cloak Tuck rather than the entire Shapeshift series. That is my main wear out of all of them (daily) and I also find it very comfortable and extremely concealed in the 4:30 position. As I have said I will almost certainly never use the AIWB, although I may experiment with it in a different position, and for as little as I use the OWB and paddle they will ultimately not justify the added expense. That said, they still get used from time to time. For EDC, I plan on sticking with the Alien Gear, but I did recently purchase a snubnose for which I have a pocket carry holster, but I may play around with some other OWB leather holsters for it just for fun as they get high marks around here and just look much classier than space age plastics.

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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So far I've been using two examples of the High Noon Holster Mr Softy with two different guns; one of my JP Sauer 38hs in one holster and one of my Colt 1903s in the other. Both have been remarkably comfortable with the slightly slimmer Colt 1903 perhaps just a tad more enjoyable.

I haven't tried to conceal either since were into our pretty warm period already but may try an unbuttoned short over my t-shirt later.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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Well, the High Noon Holster worked well and was comfortable with both the JP Sauer 38h and the Colt 1903. So it is time to give Alien Gear another try, this time with their IWB version. I've found their OWB belt and their paddle format totally unusable. They stick out way too far and the belt attachment is simply not stable enough.

I have two shells I can try and I'll start with the Sig P290RS version. I have both the 380 an 9mm Parabellum models so I can see how it does with them. I also have a Colt 1903 shell so that will be the follow up test.

First impression though is that it's a bitch to put on or take off.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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sig230 wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:49 pm Well, the High Noon Holster worked well and was comfortable with both the JP Sauer 38h and the Colt 1903. So it is time to give Alien Gear another try, this time with their IWB version. I've found their OWB belt and their paddle format totally unusable. They stick out way too far and the belt attachment is simply not stable enough.

I have two shells I can try and I'll start with the Sig P290RS version. I have both the 380 an 9mm Parabellum models so I can see how it does with them. I also have a Colt 1903 shell so that will be the follow up test.

First impression though is that it's a bitch to put on or take off.
My Alien Gear IWB (Cloak Tuck 3.5) holsters are harder to install and remove than my paddle OWB holsters, for sure. If I'm going to wear the same pair of jeans for more than one day, I put the holster into the jeans before I put the jeans on me, and leave it there (without the pistol) overnight, rather than take it off and put it back on.

I figure that being hard to remove makes the thing more likely to stay put when I draw in a hurry, so I don't mind much.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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BearPaws wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:58 pm My Alien Gear IWB (Cloak Tuck 3.5) holsters are harder to install and remove than my paddle OWB holsters, for sure. If I'm going to wear the same pair of jeans for more than one day, I put the holster into the jeans before I put the jeans on me, and leave it there (without the pistol) overnight, rather than take it off and put it back on.

I figure that being hard to remove makes the thing more likely to stay put when I draw in a hurry, so I don't mind much.
Thanks, that's certainly a good plan and something I'll try.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: I've been able to go a whole week now wearing one of my IWB holsters.

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After three days using the Alien Gear IWB set up I can make a few observations.

Putting the holster on and taking it off is really difficult; it's definitely a put in pants before you get in pants operation. Once set up with the snap over belt clips it does work well. I've tried two different shells and while the same rig with the Paddle or belt base was totally and simply unusable, the IWB rig is actually quite nice. It holds the guns I tried close to my body with the heel tucked in firmly. It does require a different draw motion with somewhat less control than I like simply because the gun is held so close to my body (or maybe my body tends to expand to fill the available space) but while I begin with something less than a full 360 grip I do get a full grip long before the gun leaves the holster fully.

Things I find annoying.

The body shield extends up too high and can poke into my side and the base sometimes presses on a nerve but honestly they are minor annoyances and I could live with either. I don't like the stock clips and might try ordering one or more of the optional styles.

Things I like best.

It does remain in position and distribute the weight better than the Mr Softy but not better than the Hume. Re-holstering took some learning but once past the initial familiarization was repeatable without too much effort.

Overall I find the IWB Alien Gear holster more than adequate and far far better than the paddle or belt OWB options.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

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